Posts

Chef Nikk’s Live Cooking Event

Holiday Prep Cooking Demo

Chef Nikk helped us dive in and get ready for the Thanksgiving holiday! We had so much fun cooking along with her and learned some helpful tips just in time for the holidays!

Just a few highlights:

  • Quiche creativity: Lots of discussion about how quiche can be adapted to create new inventions and flavors. Quiche can be made ahead and frozen – a great option when you are having guests and it can be served for any meal!
  • Veggie versatility: Chef Nikk shared some great tips on how to use the right veggies for the right dish.

We loved all of the participation from the group!

Click here to watch Chef Nikk’s cooking demo.

About Chef Nikk

Chef Nikk has been cooking since she was 12 years old and has worked in the hospitality industry for over 20 years. She loves cooking with her family and often cooks with her son Avery. Two years ago she took her passion and talents to create Chef Nikk’s creations, a catering and private chef services business.

Feel free to click on the image and download the recipe for future reference.

ABOUT SEASONAL ROOTS

Since 2011, Seasonal Roots’ online farmers market has connected Virginia families with local family farmers who use sustainable, humane practices. Our neighborhood market managers – who believe in living better through scrumptious, healthy eating, being kind to animals, protecting the environment, and spreading joy – home-deliver freshly harvested produce, pastured eggs, grassfed dairy and meat, plus artisan fare. We empower our members to eat better and live better with more nutritious, flavorful food that’s good for us and good for the planet. More info at seasonalroots.com.

Jamila’s Educational and Entertaining Live Cooking Event

Brinner Bundle Cooking Demo

We held our first Seasonal Roots live cooking event in late October.

Jamila helped us whip up a delicious Brinner Bundle featuring Sweet Potato Hash and Spinach Apple Salad.

In addition to demo of the recipes, Jamila shares:

  • Tips for versatility in the kitchen
  • Ideas for cutting/prepping and subbing out recipe items
  • Some dancing and an essential pinch of humor

While Jamila is magic in the kitchen, her emphasis is on keeping things real and simple. The event is as entertaining as it is informative.

Click here to watch Jamila’s cooking demo.

Jamila Talbot has been with Seasonal Roots for 8-years. She leads the team that delivers Seasonal Roots goodies across all of Virginia and parts of Maryland. Oh, and she and her husband have 5 girls, 1 dog and a gazillion house plants.

The recipes for the Sweet Potato Hash and Apple Spinach Salad are below. Feel free to click on the image and download the recipe for future reference.

ABOUT SEASONAL ROOTS

Since 2011, Seasonal Roots’ online farmers market has connected Virginia families with local family farmers who use sustainable, humane practices. Our neighborhood market managers – who believe in living better through scrumptious, healthy eating, being kind to animals, protecting the environment, and spreading joy – home-deliver freshly harvested produce, pastured eggs, grassfed dairy and meat, plus artisan fare. We empower our members to eat better and live better with more nutritious, flavorful food that’s good for us and good for the planet. More info at seasonalroots.com.

Warm & Cozy Fall Recipes

🍁Plus: Tips & Tricks for the Fall Kitchen🍁

Gotta have fall recipes as we transition into the fall season! With cooler temps and shorter days bringing us a beautiful bounty of fall produce, the Seasonal Roots team has gathered up our easiest, tastiest recipes to make cooking it all up a piece of cake! First, a few tips…

Clean your oven

Cleaning your oven helps prepare for fall and winter, when we eat less cold, raw food and more hot, cooked food. That way you can kick off the season without setting off your smoke detectors.

Eat produce high in vitamins A & C

They boost your immune system so it’s good and strong for fighting off the germ attacks of cold and flu season.

  • Add greens like kale and collards to smoothies, soups, and pasta dishes.
  • Other local A & C powerhouses include apples, cabbage, carrots, sweet potatoes, beets, parsnips, hard winter squashes, celery, celeriac, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts. Many contain more vitamin C than oranges!

Eat whole grains

The dietary fiber in brown rice, quinoa, millet, barley, and whole wheat breads aids healthy digestion. Whole grains are also full of iron for healthy blood, antioxidants to keep your cells healthy, and B vitamins to give you energy.

Snack on nuts and seeds

You’ll get some of the healthy fat your body needs, especially if you can hone your tastebuds to enjoy them raw. Walnuts contain especially high amounts of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, but most nuts appear to be good for you, too. Topping the healthy seeds list are flax, chia, pumpkin, sunflower, hemp, and sesame, which all have tons of fiber and minerals. For cooking oil, use healthy liquid fats like olive oil, walnut oil, and flaxseed oil. And speaking of seeds…

Save butternut & acorn squash seeds

Don’t throw away those seeds you scoop out of butternut and acorn squashes! They’re deeeelish!

  1. Toss them in olive oil. Don’t waste time picking out the strands that come with them. The strands will shrivel in the heat.
  2. Spread them on a baking sheet and loosely cover with foil or parchment paper.
  3. Roast at about 400 degrees until they start to pop. (The foil keeps them from flying around inside your oven.) Stir them and keep an eye on them.
  4. Once they’re lightly browned, take them out, sprinkle with salt, and start snacking!

Make a homemade, nutritious stock or broth

You can freeze it and use it in soups, stews, and sauces all season long. Bone broth and vegan alternatives boost immunity, and they’re good for bone and joint health, too.

So if you’re eating local food in season, you’re eating food that’s fresher and more flavorful. Here are some ways to turn the best tasting produce into the best warm and cozy meals and sides.

When you see a recipe you like, just click on the recipe card. Then either share it to Facebook or Pinterest. Or right click on the image and save it to your phone or computer.

Fall Recipes You Have to Try!



 

 

 

ABOUT SEASONAL ROOTS

Since 2011, Seasonal Roots’ online farmers market has connected Virginia families with local family farmers who use sustainable, humane practices. Our veggie fairies – mostly moms who believe in living better through scrumptious, healthy eating, being kind to animals, protecting the environment, and spreading joy – home-deliver freshly harvested produce, pastured eggs, grassfed dairy and meat, plus artisan fare. We empower our members to eat better and live better with more nutritious, flavorful food that’s good for us and good for the planet. More info at seasonalroots.com.

Easy chicken recipes from Karla in the news!

Healthy eating made easy with humanely raised local chicken

Easy chicken recipes were in the news when Karla dropped by WAVY-TV’s studios for The Hampton Roads Show on August 27.

For those that would like to sign up for Seasonal Roots, be sure to use special code HRSJOIN10 to join for just $10!

Click here to watch Karla’s Hampton Roads Show interview

During the course of one short interview, Karla whipped up three quick and easy chicken recipes. (You could also use tofu or any protein of your choice.) Every ingredient she used came from Seasonal Roots, all locally grown or locally made.

First, she sauteed a panful of chopped up local chicken that was humanely raised with no antibiotics or growth hormones.

From that single batch of chicken she then made three dinner entrees. Each one is so simple that its description is the recipe!

  • Eggplant halves topped with chicken tossed in basil pesto sauce, diced mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
  • Stuffed bell peppers filled with chicken mixed with pico-poco salsa and topped with avocado-cilantro hummus and grated cheddar cheese.
  • Lettuce chicken wraps, each made in a cup-like hydro bibb lettuce leaf topped with chicken, matchstick apple slices, curry aioli sauce, and a sprinkle of chopped fresh chives.

Still got questions? Just watch the 8-minute interview, above, to see how they’re done! Or, scroll down for the full directions and ingredients lists below.

Seasonal Roots makes healthy eating easy

When you eat local food in season, you’re eating food that is fresher. That makes it more flavorful and, most importantly, packed with more nutrients. All those good things fade away the farther produce has to travel and the longer it sits on the shelf. So eating seasonally is really good for you and good for your taste buds, too.

And when you cook at home using real food like local produce and chicken, you know exactly what’s in it. No preservatives, no dangerous chemicals, no unhealthy high fructose corn syrups, no surprise allergy triggers.

Plus, eating a variety of foods ensures you’re getting all the nutrients your body needs!

More tips & tricks for eating seasonally and healthfully

Check out the tips & tricks Karla has shared in other TV gigs:
How to Eat Seasonally
Creative Ways to Enjoy Fresh Local Peaches
Max out Flavor & Nutrients with these Produce Storage Tips
Why Fresh Local Produce Supports Healthy Eating & Boosts Immunity

And now… 3 easy chicken recipes!

 

Stuffed Eggplant Caprese

Eggplant caprese recipeIngredients:

(All available at SeasonalRoots.com when in season locally)

  • Eggplant
  • Diced chicken
  • Diced tomatoes
  • Fresh mozzarella
  • Balsamic vinegar
  • Basil pesto (2 cups fresh basil leaves, 1/2 cup grated parmesan, 1/2 cup olive oil, 3 cloves minced garlic)

Directions:

  • Slice an eggplant in half, scoop out some of the middle.
  • Cook at 350 for about 15 min.
  • Then stuff with cooked, diced chicken, diced fresh mozzarella, diced tomatoes, basil pesto.
  • Put under the broiler until the cheese is browned, and top with fresh basil.
  • You can also cook up the scooped out eggplant and add that to the mixture to not waste anything.
  • Of course, it also makes a great vegetarian dish. Remove chicken and add Tempeh or chickpeas.

Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

(All available at SeasonalRoots.com when in season locally)

  • 3 bell peppers any color!
  • Diced cooked chicken
  • Salsa
  • Avocado Cilantro Lime Hummus
  • 2 Tbsp. Garlic, minced
  • 1 Shallot, diced
  • Olive oil
  • Grated Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

  • Cut the tops off the peppers and core them, then throw in boiling water for 3 minutes.
  • Stuff peppers with cooked, diced chicken mixed with salsa.
  • Top with Avocado Cilantro Lime Hummus and grated cheddar.
  • Be creative! You can add beans or rice, mix with refried beans and top with salsa, change up the cheese, use poblano instead of bell peppers. Make it your own.

Curry Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

(All available at SeasonalRoots.com when in season locally)

  • Lettuce
  • Cooked chicken
  • Bury Me in Curry Aioli
  • Thinly sliced tart apples
  • Chives
  • Optional add-ons whatever you have on hand: peppers, carrots, onions, grapes, etc.

Directions:

  • In a curved piece of lettuce add cooked chicken
  • Mix in Bury Me in Curry Aioli (yum!), thinly sliced tart apples, and sprinkle with chives.
  • Be creative! You can add sliced peppers, carrots, onions, or whatever you have on hand.
ABOUT SEASONAL ROOTS

Since 2011, Seasonal Roots’ online farmers market has connected Virginia families with local family farmers who use sustainable, humane practices. Our veggie fairies – mostly moms who believe in living better through scrumptious, healthy eating, being kind to animals, protecting the environment, and spreading joy – home-deliver freshly harvested produce, pastured eggs, grassfed dairy and meat, plus artisan fare. We empower our members to eat better and live better with more nutritious, flavorful food that’s good for us and good for the planet. More info at seasonalroots.com.

humane farming

Humane farming is good for humans too. Here’s why.

EAT BETTER LIVE BETTER NEWSLETTER / March 14,2018

Tips, hacks, recipes, stories, and the weekly special all help you eat better live better with fresh local food!

LOTS OF PASTURE AND NO PESTICIDES, ANTIBIOTICS, HORMONES, OR GMO'S AT THIS LOCAL FARM

Out of the six kids in the Avery’s Branch Farms family, Oliver is the one in charge of their pasture-raised chickens. The family also raises cows and pigs. With support from Seasonal Roots and other Virginia families and restaurants, their farm has really grown. Their chicken flock has grown from five hens and a rooster to 3,800 hens. The egg business is now big enough for 24-year-old Oliver to launch (cue the drumroll…) AUTHENTICITY FARMS!

Even as the flock has grown, Oliver’s commitment to his family’s humane farming practices has remained the same...

Learn the difference between cage-free, free-range, and pasture-raised below, or view this issue as a printable PDF with clickable links.

newsletter 2018-03-14 final pg1

newsletter 2018-03-14 final pg2

pasture-raised chickens authenticity farms

Humane farming is good for humans too. Here’s why.

Lots of pasture and NO pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, or GMOs at this local farm

By the Veggie Fairy Team

There’s no such thing as a chill chicken. Pigs may be laid back. But laying hens are in a constant state of panic, as if today could be their last. That’s what Oliver has observed since his parents started farming a dozen years ago when he was 12. Relying on humane farming practices, they raised cows, pigs, and chickens at Avery’s Branch Farms in Amelia, Va.

“Now and then we have some hens that like to be petted, but that’s just a random individual,” Oliver says. “I’ve never heard of a super chill chicken.”

So apparently, Chicken Little, who famously ran around crying, “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” was a pretty typical chicken. But can you blame her? For a chicken, the world is full of imminent death and dismemberment by raccoons, possums, bobcats, coyotes, foxes, untrained dogs, and as if that weren’t enough, hawks from above. When you’re raising chickens, the temptation is to lock them away inside where it’s easier to raise them.

Easier. But not healthier. And the resulting flavor’s nothing to write home about, either. Being stuck inside doesn’t even make the chickens any less frantic.

The humane farming backstory

Avery’s Branch Farms has been supplying Seasonal Roots and other Virginia families for a long time. We love how the hens have access to pasture year-round. Grass makes up 50% of their diet. The rest of what they eat includes insects, worms (chickens are not naturally vegetarian, which is why those “100% vegetarian feed” claims are not necessarily a good thing), plus local, non-GMO grain. During the winter when the grass isn’t growing, the grass portion of their diet is supplemented with alfalfa, a high quality hay.

Even when it’s cold out the girls always have outdoor access. So they’re able to do all the natural things that make a chicken happy — grazing, pecking, scratching, and flying short distances out in the fresh air and sunshine. As a result, they naturally stay healthier.

According to Oliver, “We never use pesticides, antibiotics, or hormones. Our animals are kept healthy by their exceptional diet and environment. In return they give us the healthiest, tastiest products.” And the chickens are kept safe from predators under the watchful eye of trained, hen-loving dogs. The chickens are as naturally frantic as ever, but they’re happy and safe and truly pasture-raised.

That’s a much higher standard than “cage-free”, which means the birds are not confined in a tiny cage but are still kept indoors, roaming around inside long, low, crowded warehouses. Pasture-raised is better than “free-range” too, which usually just means the chickens have minimal access to an outside concrete pen while spending most of their lives stuck inside like the cage-free birds. For an excellent explanation of the difference between cage-free, free-range, and pasture-raised, read this.

A local farm success story

Out of the six kids in the Avery’s Branch family, Oliver is the one in charge of their pasture-raised chickens. He recalls, “I had always wanted to partner with restaurants to offer the same life-giving products to restaurant-goers we had always offered to our family customers. With the help of the nearby Amish community, we started delivering to restaurants and it was a big hit. Soon we had to increase our flocks to accommodate the demand.”

Seasonal Roots helped Oliver introduce more Virginia families to the goodness of his family’s pasture-raised eggs. Just like Virginia’s high-end restaurant chefs, we could all see and taste the difference that a grassfed diet makes (more on that in a minute). But the restaurants needed a consistent supply to make pasture-raised eggs a regular part of their menus, and so did we. A bigger flock made the small family farm in Amelia a more dependable supplier to everyone.

They started out with five hens and a rooster in 2005. Today their flock has grown to 3,800 and the egg business is big enough for Oliver, now 24, to make the flock his own and launch (cue the drumroll…) AUTHENTICITY FARMS!

Even as the flock has grown, Oliver’s commitment to his family’s humane farming practices has remained the same. So one local sustainable, humane family farm is now two. Seasonal Roots members can pat themselves on the back for being part of making that possible.

The health benefits of pasture-raised eggs

Humane farming practices aren’t just good for the animals. They’re good for the humans, too. A pasture-raised egg looks different from an industrial farmed egg, even if it’s cage-free or free-range. A pasture-raised yolk is deep orange surrounded by a thick, milky white. The flavor is richer. And it offers higher amounts of vitamin A, D, E, K2, B-12, folate, riboflavin, zinc, calcium, beta carotene, choline, and tons of omega 3 fatty acids, including DHA, EPA, ALA, and AA.

A pasture-raised egg offers the highest quality protein, second only to the lactalbumin protein in a human mother’s milk. It is a true superfood. A study found that compared to industrial farmed eggs, the benefits of pasture-raised include:

  • 1/3 less cholesterol
  • 1/4 less saturated fat
  • 2/3 more vitamin A
  • 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
  • 3 times more vitamin E
  • 7 times more beta carotene
  • 3-6 times more vitamin D (thanks to hanging out in all that sunshine!)
  • We’re proud to support the humane, healthful, life-giving work of the newest addition to our market, Authenticity Farms!

    Visit the Authenticity Farms website for more on Oliver’s goals and mission.
    Visit the Avery’s Branch Farms website to get to know the family and their principled approach to farming.

    ABOUT SEASONAL ROOTS

    Since 2011, Seasonal Roots’ online farmers market has connected Virginia families with local family farmers who use sustainable, humane practices. Our veggie fairies – mostly moms who believe in living better through scrumptious, healthy eating, being kind to animals, protecting the environment, and spreading joy – home-deliver freshly harvested produce, eggs, grass-fed dairy and meat, plus artisan fare. We empower our members to eat better and live better with more nutritious, flavorful food that’s good for us and good for the planet. More info at seasonalroots.com.